A report commissioned by the Hull and East Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (HEY LEP) has outlined plans to ensure local residents have the skills to get good jobs, both now and in the future.
The LEP’s Local Skills Report discusses future skills needs – highlighting the local area as national centre for excellence in terms of clean energy – as well as the need for decarbonising heavy industry – recommending developing skills training to ensure local people are qualified to work within these vital sectors. The report underscores offshore wind, biomass, biofuels, and low carbon hydrogen all as key sectors.
The report also sets out the current skills priorities for the local economy – such as reskilling and upskilling of employees affected by the coronavirus pandemic to enable them to find work – as well as helping people develop more digital skills and retaining more young people to work in our region.
The Local Skills Report sets out a framework as to exactly how the LEP, education providers and local authorities can work together to tackle these issues in our area – through areas suggested for investment, collaborative activity and what to include in the curriculum for post-16 education.
The report highlights the work achieved by the former Humber LEP’s Employment and Skills Board, while also calling for continued collaboration across the HEY LEP and Greater Lincolnshire LEP for the best outcomes for the entire Humber region.
Publication of the Local Skills Report comes as the LEP makes two new appointments – with Chris Howell joining as Employment & Skills Manager, while HEY LEP’s new Employment and Skills Board will be chaired by Board member Jayne Adamson, who is People Director at Humber Coast and Vale Partnership.
James Newman, Chair of HEY LEP, said: “The Local Skills Report provides some great information to help and influence individuals, employers and education and training providers to recognise the opportunities and challenges that face those in Hull and East Yorkshire.
“Our region has a good story to tell and we have a compelling case for further investment in skills, which coupled with the right culture, our natural assets and access to an available workforce, will ensure that the requirement for more highly skilled jobs from our new industries, will be met by local residents.
“The actions included in Local Skills Report will help inform the development of the HEY LEP’s Employment and Skills Strategy, which the new Employment and Skills Board will be taking forward over the coming months. This will be done by bringing together employers, skills providers and key local stakeholders to better understand and resolve the skills and recruitment challenges within the Hull and East Yorkshire region.
Abdul Bathin, Regional Lead at the Careers and Enterprise Company, said: “The world of education and skills is challenging and the pace of change is rapid. Helping young people to navigate the job market following the impact of Covid-19 will be vital.
“The HEY LEP’s Local Skills report brings together an analysis of the areas skills priorities and includes a number of actions to help retain and attract young people, including strengthening careers pathways and rolling out the Quality in Careers Standards to more schools, which will help support young people to achieve the skills needed for their future careers.”
You can read the report here.